NEWPORT BEACH Council to appoint replacement for...

NEWPORT BEACH

Council to appoint replacement for vacancy

The City Council will appoint a replacement for Councilman Gary

Adams who recently announced that he’ll step down when he relocates

to Washington, D.C. for business reasons, officials said this week.

Confusion over the city charter led some to ask that Adams’ seat

be put up for grabs on the November ballot, but a legal opinion

solicited by City Attorney Bob Burnham stated the city charter

requires the council to appoint a replacement for Adams -- the seat

would go to a public election if the council fails to make an

appointment.

The appointment process won’t begin until Adams formally submits a

resignation. Adams said he’s not yet sure when he’ll do that.

* Drug and alcohol recovery homes, which residents say are

scattered throughout the Balboa Peninsula, will be more heavily

regulated by the city. The council last week voted to adopt new

zoning standards that will require some group homes to apply for

special permits that will be given by the Planning Commission.

Residents for years have called for tighter regulation of recovery

homes, but most of the speakers at a Tuesday city council meeting on

the issue were proponents of the homes. The zoning change must still

pass a second reading by the council set for July 27.

* Residents opposed to a proposed 110-room hotel on the Balboa

Peninsula voiced their concerns at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

Protect Our Parks wants to stop the Marinapark bayfront

development, which would occupy land that currently houses a mobile

home park, a Girl Scout facility and a public beach. Council members

will vote July 27 on whether to receive an environmental report, and

if approved, the project will go on the November ballot.